“They told me that they didn’t want to sign guys to long-term deals, and then they gave [Shane] Victorino a three-year deal, and then [Mike] Napoli a three-year deal or four-year deal, whatever it was [later shortened to a one-year deal after health issues popped up]. So, basically they lied to my face. At that point, I kind of got a bad taste in my mouth and wanted to move on, and that was it.

These things are always a little bit of he-said, he-said. I don’t think it’s at all unreasonable to assume that Cherington told Ross they didn’t want to sign him to a long-term deal, as saying they weren’t signing anyone to such a deal isn’t exactly realistic.

As it is, Ross is having a sub-par year, so lying or not, I’d say Cherington made a good choice.